Injured Sounders' goalkeeper keeps busy in booth

While recovering from a miserably timed hamstring injury, Sounders FC goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann made his debut as a pregame analyst Saturday when Seattle played the Colorado Rapids at CenturyLink Field.

“It was pretty fun,” he said of his work with Jackie Montgomery and Pete Fewing. “At the end of it, when they said, ‘How’d you do?’ I said, ‘I didn’t swear.’ So that was the good part.”

Good enough, Hahnemann said, that a broadcast career could be considered once his playing days are over.

“That’s one of the fun jobs you could get into when you’re done, because you’re kind of involved, you’re going to the games, you’re still involved with the sport,” said Hahnemann, a former Kentridge High School and Seattle Pacific University player. “So that and coaching are probably the biggest things that you can stay involved with the pro game. And I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. We’ll see.”

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At 41, Hahnemann isn’t ready to be put out to pasture just yet. However, he used a similar analogy Tuesday in describing

his frustration at being an injured No. 2 keeper while the No. 1 keeper also is down.

“The older you get, your chances become limited: just the sheer number,” he said. “I was telling (No. 3 goalkeeper Josh Ford), I go, ‘Man, if I were a horse, I’d be in the paddock right now, and kids would come over and pet me. No one could ride me anymore, and they’d be feeding me carrots. I used to go on these trail rides and climb mountains and stuff, and now I’m at the petting zoo.’”

Hahnemann was signed late last season for exactly this situation: to provide a veteran replacement if starter Michael Gspurning was lost to injury. That happened July 13, when Gspurning suffered a forearm injury at San Jose. But Hahnemann already was unavailable.

“It’s a difficult situation for Marcus because obviously you sit there as a reserve goalkeeper and you’re waiting for a chance to play, and now you have a situation where the first-string goalkeeper gets injured,” coach Sigi Schmid said. “So now is your opportunity to play — and Marcus has been a quality goalkeeper over the years — and you’re injured at the same time. So from that standpoint, I understand Marcus’ frustration. ... For them both to be injured at the same time has made it difficult.”

Andrew Weber, on loan from third-division Phoenix FC, is expected to be in goal again Sunday when Chivas USA visits CenturyLink Field.

Hahnemann, who will not be part of that telecast, wouldn’t speculate on when he might return to the pitch.

ADDED TIME

The deal that sent Sounders leading career scorer Fredy Montero to Sporting Lisbon might be more involved than the simple “loan” announced on the team’s news release this week. “With all the teams involved, it’s probably a little more complicated,” Schmid said. “Sometimes there’s loan/purchases, where it starts off as a loan and becomes a purchase. Sometimes it’s just a loan and there’s an option to buy. Sometimes it automatically rolls into a purchase. There are all kinds of scenarios that could happen.” ... Sounders defender Djimi Traore and midfielder Andy Rose returned to training Tuesday. ... The U.S. national team will meet Honduras at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Arlington, Texas, in a CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal match. Sounders forward Eddie Johnson once again will be with the U.S. team, although Schmid seemed miffed that Johnson was called away from his Major League Soccer team for a reserve role in the quarterfinal. “If we knew he was only going to play 30 minutes, we could have maybe used him a little bit,” said Schmid, who added that he discussed the matter with national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann. ... Asked which Sounders stood out in Sunday’s 3-2 MLS Reserve League loss to Colorado, Schmid mentioned Dylan Remick, Patrick Ianni, David Estrada and Eriq Zavaleta.